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A review by celinejaneway
The Sun Sister by Lucinda Riley
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I've enjoyed this series very much, but this book was a CHALLENGE to finish. Electra is not likeable. She goes from a selfish and clueless drug addict to a holier than thou sober woman.
The way that addiction and the road to sobriety are portrayed are unrealistic. There are no moments of slipping and actually dealing with the resurgence of addiction when life gets hard and you are faced with the real world. Electra is mugged and learns her mother died alone in a crack den yet neither of those very traumatic things effect her addictions at all. She breaks a cardinal rule of AA by sharing a members identity and what they shared during a meeting and the author portrays her as the good guy for it!!!! A cardinal rule of sobriety is no dating for at least a year and yet a supposedly sober man himself, Miles, asks Electra out directly out of rehab.
Cecily's story is better but done a disservice by having her life end tragically in a quick few paragraph retelling by another character. We spend 400 pages with her and she basically dies off screen.
I really struggled with Stella's passion for her 'work' over her love for her daughter. She wants better lives for so many but she doesn't take her first chance to make a real difference and raise her daughter. The work starts at home first.
Tommy is brought into the fold as Electra's bodyguard when he is quite literally her STALKER. A point that is glossed over as endearing.
The authors approach to religion and heavy topics like racism and drug addiction are shallow and stretched thin. The overall issue is that she bit off too much for a single book. Each of the stories in this novel, could have easily been its own book.
The way that addiction and the road to sobriety are portrayed are unrealistic. There are no moments of slipping and actually dealing with the resurgence of addiction when life gets hard and you are faced with the real world. Electra is mugged and learns her mother died alone in a crack den yet neither of those very traumatic things effect her addictions at all. She breaks a cardinal rule of AA by sharing a members identity and what they shared during a meeting and the author portrays her as the good guy for it!!!! A cardinal rule of sobriety is no dating for at least a year and yet a supposedly sober man himself, Miles, asks Electra out directly out of rehab.
Cecily's story is better but done a disservice by having her life end tragically in a quick few paragraph retelling by another character. We spend 400 pages with her and she basically dies off screen.
I really struggled with Stella's passion for her 'work' over her love for her daughter. She wants better lives for so many but she doesn't take her first chance to make a real difference and raise her daughter. The work starts at home first.
Tommy is brought into the fold as Electra's bodyguard when he is quite literally her STALKER. A point that is glossed over as endearing.
The authors approach to religion and heavy topics like racism and drug addiction are shallow and stretched thin. The overall issue is that she bit off too much for a single book. Each of the stories in this novel, could have easily been its own book.